Hansen will swim in the preliminaries of the 100-meter freestyle and the 200-backstroke today. He competes in the preliminaries of the 200-breaststroke Saturday and the 100-breaststroke Sunday. The Grand Prix marks the first long-course meet — the same format as the Olympic trials and the Olympics — that Hansen has competed in since the U.S. National Championships in August.

Despite being in the middle of one its best defensive performances of the season, the Columbia College men’s basketball team needed a spark on offense. A dunk by Jake Alexander provided the necessary ignition.

In a year where the Tigers have only one conference win and rank at or near the bottom of almost every major statistical category in the Big 12 Conference, the affinity and skill in firing the 3-point shot has kept the team in the thick of most games.

Concerns about the economy are causing Missouri lawmakers to look for ways to trim Gov. Matt Blunt’s spending proposals. Blunt has proposed a nearly $23 billion budget for next fiscal year, which would leave about $50 million not spent.

The amendment will take advantage of federal funding that helps cover the cost of forensic medical exams, or rape kits, for sexual assault victims, and will redesignate $1 million of the originally proposed funding to go toward the creation of a sexual assault grant program.

As Democratic primaries continue across the country and candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama remain in a virtual deadlock, the party’s superdelegates are becoming the focus of increased attention.